National Republican., 1887-05-23
white In the blood of the Lamb Then strike

!
the aches and weaknesses that you still carry
| from the war times. You are not as stal wnrt
as you would have been but iOr that nervous
strain and for that terrific exposure. Let every
ache and pain, instead OF depressing, remind
| you your Il lelIty. The sinR,ug of the Wee
| hawken OIL Morris Island Dec H. 1868, was
mystery. she was not under fire. The sea
was not rnusn But Admiral Dahlgren, from
| the deck Ot the II " steamer Philadelphia, saw
| her gradually sinking and finally snu struck
| thc Riound, tut the ilag stil ilOated above tue
| wave ~ the sight OF the shipping IL was aG
tetward found that she sank from W, akness
| tnruugn lnlures III previous service. Her
plates mad been knocked loose In previous
liin"s So you have In nerve aud mu Gle and
bone and dimmcd eyeSight ana difficult hear
| Ing AMI shoftHeS> Of breath many inttnatiOnN
that yun are gra,luaily going down It l. the
service OF twenty'thtee Yeas ago lnat is telling
on you BE Oi good Cnter We Jwe you lust
ny much rs though your lfr blood I'd gurg,ed
thrOngn the scuppers OF the ship III tue Red
river expedition, or as though you nid gouc
down with the Melville or Hatteras Only
Keep ybnr ilag ilNiug Ms did the iIlustriUus
| W"en twkpn,
Good cheer, my boys, The memory of man Is
poor aiid ali that tdls about the country never
| iurk thug those wnu Fought fur II isan tiutrutn.
| IL does forget Witness how the veterans
sometimes ha ~ turn the ban'l organ, on the
| street u get lnelr families u Iivlng. Witnt 50
now ru hlessly some OF them have been tirned
out OF Office thht some bloHt Of pO' 'l'ician
| might take their place. witness the iurt that
| tberc l. not man or woman now under ~
years of age who has any full appreciation OF
| the lOur wears inartyrdOIn of 1861 to 1885 in
elusive. But whiic men may FORGET, God never
| ioigets. He Remembers the swinging ham.
mock lie remembers the f,reca'te He re-
| members the frozen iOpGs of that January
tempest He remembers the amputati IN with.
out sufficient ether. He remembers the
horrors Of that deafening night when forts
| from both sidt s belched on you their fury and
| the heavens glowed with the ascending and
descending missiles OF death. ami your ship
qnsked under the recoii OF the one hundred
FOUNDER. while all the pnnners, according to
command. stood on tiptoe with mouth wide
| open lest the co"CusSion shauer hearing or
brain. He remembers IL all better than you
| remember II, and in some shape reward will
be gwen God is the best Of all payma'ters.
and for those VINO do their whole duly tn Him
aud the world the pension awarded H. an ever
| lasting heaven.
m.times oil the coas, of England the royal
| family have Inspected the British navy,
maueivred befor,; them for that uurpo-e In
| the Baltic sea the cZar and czaiina have re.
viewed the Russian navy. To bring before the
American people the debt they owe to the
navy 90 out with you ou the Atlantic ocean.
where there is enty ot room aud iu inasi-
nation review the war shipping of our three
great coniicts-l776. 1872, and iSb5 swing
into line, all ye irigates ironclads. fire traits,
gnb ,ais and men Of.war There they come.
all sail set und all furnaces in full blast.
sheaves OF crystal tossing from their cut ing
prows That is the Delaware, an old revolu:
tionary craft, mmanded by Commodore
Decatur ionder goes tn Constitution, Com.
modnre Hun commanding There is the
CHESAPEAKE. Commanded by Capt Lawrence,
the ship, and the Niagara, of 1871,
commanded by Commodore Perry, who
Wrote on the back of au old letter, resting ON
ih,I MS navy cap, We haye ,, met the enemy aud
Wabash, Admiral Dupont commanding:
yonler, the iiagsh p Minnesota. Admiral
I0ld>borough commanding: yonder, the iiag.
ship Philadelphia, Admiral Dahgren con-
manding; yonder. the flagship San Jacnto.
Admiral Bailey commanding; yOnder, the
flagship Black Hawk, Admiral Porter com.
mandng; y0nder. the ilag steamer Benton.
Admiral Foote commanding; yondcr. the flag.
ship Hartford David GascOr Farragut com.
nandng And now all the suuadrons of all
departments from smallest tugboat to mlghti-
rigging tilled with the men who fought on the
sea for the old flag ever since we were
nation Grande.t fleet the world
ever saw. Sail on before all ages Run upall
the portfolios Unlimber the guns aud load
and fire one great Droadsde that shall shake
the continents In honor of peace and the
eternity of the American Union But / lift
my hand. and the scene has vanished Many
OF the ships have dropped under the crystal
pavement of the deep. sea monsters swimming
In and out the fOrsaken cabin, and other old
crafts have swung into the navy yards aud
many of the brave spirits who trod their decks
are gone up to the eternal fortress, from
whose casements. and embrasurcs may we not
nation in reunited brotherhood?
Al this annual commemoration l bethink
that most OF you who were inthe naval service
or evening Of life With some &c Of W You e il is two two
o'clock, four O'Clock. six O'Clock, and 1t will
soon be sundown. II you were of age when
the war broke out. you are now at least forty
eight. Many of you have passed into the six
ties and the seventies. therefore II is appropri.
ate that hold two great lights for your illu.
mination-the example of Christian admiras
Admiral Foote and Admiral Farragnt. Had
the Christian religion been Il cOwardly thing
they would have had nothing to do with IL.
In its faith they lived and died. In our Brock
lpn navy yard Admiral FOOte held prayer
meetings and conducted revival on the re-
ceivink shi North Carolina, and on Sabbaths,
far out at sea, followed the chaplain with
board the sloop.of. war Natshez i'm
pressed by the wsrds OF a Christian sailor,
he gave his spare, time for two
weeks to the Bible. and at the end of that
declared openly "Henceforth under all cir.
cumstances, ] will act for God" His last
words, while dying at the Astor House. New
York. were; ~ thank God forall His goodness
| he entered heaven he did not have to run
blockade for 1t was amid the cheers of great
welcome, The other Christian admiral will
be honored until the day when the fires from
above shall lick mp the waters from beneath,
and there shall be no more sea.
"oh, while old oceans breast
| Bears a white sail,
| And Gods soft stars to rest
| Guide through the gale,
Men Will him ne'er forget
| Old heart OF oak
| Farragut. Farragut,
Thunderbolt slroke"
According to his own statement. Farragut
was very loose In his morals In early manhood
and prauticed all kinds of sin. One day he
was called into the cabin of his father, who
was ship master. His father said, David
what are you going to b.. anyhow?" He an.
swered, Il am gosng to follow the sea-" Fol.
low the sea- said the father, land be kicked
about the World and die in foreign hospitalg'
NO" said David, Il am going 10 command
like you. No" said the father: "a boy of
your habits will never command anything"
ana his father burst into tears and left the
cabin From that day David Farragut started
on new life. Capt, Pennington, an honored
elder OF this church, was with him in
mate friendship and he confirms, what had
heard elsewhere that Farragut was good and
Christian In every great crisis OF life he
asked and obtained the Divine direction
when in Mobile bay the monitor Tecamseh
sank from u torpedo. and the great war ship
turned back, he said he was at loss to know
whether to advance or retreat, and he says
II prayed: oh God, who created man and
gave him reason, direct me what 10 do
Shall go on Aud II voice commanded
me Go on and went on. Was there ever
which he wrote to his wife from his flagship
Hart ord? My dearest wife | write and
leay" this letter for yon. am going into
Mobile bay in the morning If God ls my
leader. andI hopp He H. and In HIM place
my trust. II He Things It is the proper place